Emerging Trends That Herald the Future of Surgical Simulation
Abstract
For the first time in over 100 years, there is a revolution in surgical education. One of the most important core technologies that are generating this revolution is simulation science, which includes not only the technology of simulators, but new curricula, objective assessment methods and criterion-based requirements. By reviewing the current status of simulation, and comparing to the emerging technologies, an analysis of the gaps can demonstrate the necessary direction for the future. INTRODUCTION There is now an acceptance, based upon validated curricula and simulators (1), that patient safety is improved through simulation-based training. This acceptance is based upon the recent adoption of a myriad of simulation technologies and a revolution in surgical education. The last such revolution was 100 years ago with the Flexner report (2) in 1910 which was driven by a need to change the apprenticeship model toward a more consistent and comprehensive training model through the establishment of more formal residency training programs. Although significant, this change continued the emphasis on training the surgeon rather than on patient safety. This has evolved into the current process of training and evaluation of surgeons, based upon subjective judgment (and a few objective measures such question and answer, case based discourse, tests, etc.) which focused upon knowledge. Skills based training and assessment has previously been accomplished exclusively by subjective appraisal in the hospital or operating room or based upon the number of surgical procedures (without any measures of performance). The future of surgical education, skills training and assessment and simulation is just beginning to be incorporated into the fabric of surgery. This represents a true revolution in education, and will set the framework for the next century of surgical education. It is critical that an enormous effort be expended to ensure that a uniformity of approach and quality of trainin
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2010
- Accession Number
- ADA520992
Entities
People
- Richard M. Satava
Organizations
- University of Washington